Tenet – Critique Everything.

I understand that you are about to read something extremely simple, yet extraordinarily controversial. It will be a thought that will affect you to varied degrees, considering your own personal morals, up-bringing, religion/spirituality and so forth. Coming from a majorly Christian background, I know that it was hard to accept the following statement:

Everything you could ever read was written by Man.

Choose any religious text or scientific theory or fact- it was written by Man. By Man, I mean one of human origins- in complete disregard of sex or otherwise.

There are some very crafty men out there. The greatest inventions were conceived of his imagination. As were the books and movies and music that you could ever read. He has many different cultures, lifestyles, habits, pet-peeves, preferences, senses of humor and tragedy. The things that any great human can conceive! Imagine that, at one time, we all believed in dragons! At one time, it was not beyond Man to think his world flat or the center of the universe. In others, Man thought he was above other men by some right or another, by virtue of his sex, race, religion, lineage, inheritance and/or his strength. Some men think that they can fly without the aid of a capable device. Others think that they are gods. Still others think that they are the chosen ones of their god. Some people believe that “what you see is what you get”. Others think that they will never die.

Things look pretty bleak, don’t they? If Man is the author of every written word and is simultaneously creative/insane, in what is anyone supposed to believe? You know that Man doesn’t know everything, especially what happens after he dies! What do you do? You start believing things by criticizing the matter in question. Don’t take anything as fact without first doing so. Ever.

There are two methods I go about this.

Check the source. If it’s about death, human rights, the origin of the Universe or Earth, fabled creatures (including gods) or Atlantis, I immediately accept it as a possible hypothesis. Everything is Possible. If it’s about cars, houses, pizza or movies, I can ask Man- because he invented those things. He knows everything there is to know about his inventions, except maybe for the Saturn V rocket. So what if I want to know about something he didn’t invent? I could check the reputability of the source and cross-reference. If the person you’re talking to didn’t invent the object, system or knowledge in question, it’s always a good idea to discuss it with other people who know about it before accepting it as ‘factual information’. What if I don’t believe in the other references? What if I want to believe in something no one else really knows about?

Consult your Soul. The soul knows everything- including what happens when you die. It knows Albert Einstein, Babe Ruth and Jesus Christ personally. It knows exactly how many bricks make up the pyramids or what really happened to Jimmy Hoffa. Every question found in the Trivial Pursuit card deck from any given year can be answered this way- if you really wanted to invest the time it takes to acquire that information. If only one man was present when Atlantis was enveloped wholly by the ocean, there are at least nine others that know about it. Somebody in this world knows beyond any shadow of a doubt that there were flying machines before Orville and Wright invented the ‘first airplane’.

You see, anything learned by any man is available to those living today. There is an eternal memory given to man. Everything he knows is stored in the collaborative mind of his brothers. You prove it when you and your significant other say the same random thing at the same time. When you experience “Past Life Regression”, you merely discover someone else’s history in the pool. Want money? You are connected to every single mind that knows how to make it.

Yet even this form of learning takes time and practice to fully realize. Don’t take what I have just said to mean that everything that is stored in your immediate brain is automatically and infallibly correct. Communion with the Hive Mind takes time and skill, which means that everyone can do it if they really wanted to.

Either way you choose to go about critiquing your beliefs, you are doing yourself a service. Blind faith is very rarely a good idea – and will often be the cause of someone’s death, harm or embarrassment.

This tenet comes with an exercise for you, Dear Reader.

• In what god do you believe? Why?
• How does a kaleidoscope work?
• What was the first machine ever to have interchangeable parts?
• What is the name of your great, great grandmother?
• Do you remember the smell or taste of your favorite childhood cereal?
• What do you really think happens after someone dies?
• What is your purpose in life?
• What does Ronald McDonald really look like?
• You know the final resting place of Alexander the Great. Point it out on a map.
• How did you end up in Burrowdeep?